The Middle S9E13 Review

Reverend TimTom appears in this week's episode of The Middle, helping Frankie figure out her third act of life. Also, Mike decides that the hole in the wall between the kids' bedrooms has to go, and Axl has issues with how much more money Lexi has than him.

S9E13 "Mommapalooza"
After seeing on television that after 50 people in Sweden prepare for death, Frankie decides it's time to get her third act started. She doesn't know what she wants to do, and ends up going to a life coach. Frankie then becomes a life coach for a short amount of time, which is really funny, especially when she gives a senior citizen playing bingo her business card. Reverend TimTom asks Frankie if she would like to sing with him, and she likes the idea. Later, she hears her kids talking bad about her performances with Reverend TimTom, and decides to quit, but Reverend TimTom then sings a song to the kids telling them to be nice to their mother. Frankie's appreciation of this song is entertaining, and I loved her narration at the end where she explains how her interest in singing with Reverend TimTom dwindled.

Because Sue and Brick have for some reason been arguing a lot, Mike tells them that they have to fix the wall between their bedrooms. Brick, however, ends up destroying the entire wall, as he was following the directions of a video that said it's easier if you make the edges of the hole straight. Sue comes up with a solution, using her poster boards from the things she ran for, but this isn't a lasting fix. It's funny in the end when Brick uses his ticks to not be blamed for the wall disaster.

Axl is struggling with the fact that Lexi wants to do things that cost a lot of money, but doesn't want her paying for everything. This story takes on the difference in class between the two, which hasn't really been explored much. Lexi keeps giving Axl money and things and making him think he got them by accident, but it's obvious that he knows what she's doing. In the end, Lexi discovers she is getting cut off by her parents since she is 21 now, and Axl offers to teach her the ways of being poor, which is a great way to conclude this story.

This wasn't the strongest episode, the Sue and Brick story only had a couple of funny moments, but I did really like how the Axl and Lexi story used differences already established about the characters, and how that story ended with a reverse in who is the expert.

Score: 7.5/10

What did you think of "Mommapalooza"? Leave your thoughts in the comments!